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MST3K 206 - Ring of Terror
The Short Synopsis Dr. Zorka desperately tries to guard a meteor fragment from which he derives his destructive powers. Dr. Mallory invents the “neometer,” an instrument he believes will detect the presence of Zorka’s meteorite. Government agents Bob West and Jim Daly, armed with the neometer, capture Zorka's assistant Monk while he is trying to escape with a heavy case. While taking Monk to headquarters, Bob attempts to open the insulated case. But the case contains the dangerous meteorite fragment, and opening the case unleashes such a destructive force that it demolishes several electrical towers along the roadside, not to mention the agents’ car. Information * The last installment of The Phantom Creeps to be used on MST3K. The Movie Synopsis This 1960's story is told to us by the keeper of a graveyard. He is looking for his cat, named Puma, when he steps on the cat's tail. The cat runs off into the graveyard and stops near a grave that reminds the keeper of a story. The story attempts to serve as an expose to the problem of campus hazing, a college senior named Lewis B. Moffitt must remove a ring from the finger of a corpse as a frat-house initiation requirement. Lewis is an apparently fearless man, even to the point of worrying his girlfriend for unclear reasons. As it turns out, however, a childhood incident has rendered him afraid of the dark. Information *This movie is the source for the often repeated riff “Puma? Puma? Puma!” ("pyoo-ma") See also Donald Pleasence in The Pumaman. *A recurring joke is made about the age of the main character, who looks too old to be a college undergrad. George E. Mather, the lead actor, was actually 42 when he made the film, although his character is meant to be 22 (based on the date of death on his tombstone). The Episode Host Segments Prologue: The Bots trick Joel with a fake movie sign. Invention Exchange (Segment One): Dr. F turns Frank into a giant Human Operation game board, while Joel presents Pin-Bolus and turns his inner organs into a pinball game. Segment Two: The SOL crew presents the Old School, a college for the elderly based on the old-looking "students" in the film. Segment Three: Joel demonstrates robotic anatomy for his class by autopsying "Mr. Hoover". The Bots are disgusted. Segment Four: Joel dispenses RAM chips for naming good things about the movie, and the crew expresses relief, only for the Mads to drop a short on them! Closing (Segment Five): The crew complains about the short and the idea that Dr. Zorka would tempt a chauffeur to help in his world domination plans, which inspires Frank to write a song about this idea: "If Chauffeurs Ruled the World". Stinger: "Weird. Yeah, I guess that is the word for it. Weird." Trivia * This is the only episode of the whole series to have the movie first and the short last. * It's also the only episode to begin with movie sign immediately after the theme song, though it's a prank by Tom and Crow * Servo still has his "haircut" from the previous episode. * “If Chauffeurs Ruled the World” '' was written by Frank Conniff with music by Michael J. Nelson. * This episode was the first to air during ''Turkey Day '91. Callbacks * “Chili peppers…” (The Side Hackers) * “It’s the Power Station.” (Robot Holocaust) Obscure References *''"Mommy! Mommy! Don't ever look at me!"'' :Frank is imitating Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet. *''"Look for...the Union Label..."'' :Referring to a jingle from a series of old commercials for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (one such commercial was riffed upon by RiffTrax when they tackled the infamous The Star Wars Holiday Special). *''"Hey, Lyndon LaRouche's brother! He just bought drugs from the Queen of England!"'' :Lyndon LaRouche is an American political activist and perennial third-party presidential candidate, known for his bizarre, conspiracy-obsessed worldview (such as his claim that Queen Elizabeth II is involved in the international drug trade) and the cult-like movement that has grown up around him. *''"Hey, check it out, Bob Dobson sic from the Church of the SubGenius!" "The Almighty Bob!"'' :A reference to the satirical pseudo-religious movement the Church of the SubGenius, whose "prophet" is named J.R. "Bob" Dobbs. *''"It's Joe Franklin!"'' :Joe Franklin had a New York-based TV talk show that aired from 1951 to 1993. *"What's the name of the book?" Crow: "Tropic of Cancer..." :Tropic of Cancer is an erotic novel by Henry Miller, one of several that tested American laws on pornography in the 1960s. *"It's like there's two separate personalities trying to gain control!" Crow: "Glen AND Glenda!" :Glen or Glenda was a semi-autobiographical docudrama about cross-dressing that was written by, directed by and starred Edward D. Wood Jr. *''"She looks like the model for Resusci-Annie!"'' :Resusci-Annie is a lifelike mannequin used to teach CPR. *''"My legs are old...my teeth are grey..."'' :Paraphrasing a line from Monty Python's Life of Brian spoken by a "feeble" old man who hides Brian and his fellow members of The People's Front of Judea from Roman soldiers. *''"These are baked yams. A Miss Karen Finley sent them over!"'' :Karen Finley is a controversial performance artist who once produced a piece entitled "Yams Up My Grannie's Ass". *"Rattle rattle rattle thunder clatter boom boom boom..." :Jingle from Car-X ads of that approximate vintage *"Let's see...'Become Jack Weston'?...No problem!" :Jack Weston was an American actor who usually played comedic roles (similar to Tiny in the this film) due to his heavyset appearance. *''"Merv Griffin? What are YOU doing here?"'' *''"Get that cat outta here!"'' :Both lines (more or less) from the Steve Martin comedy The Man With Two Brains. Behind the Scenes Movie Edits Like most of the riffed movies, Ring of Terror had several scenes trimmed in order to fit within the desired time slot. Removed footage from this film includes: * The end of the beauty contest, in which the two older judges vote for Alice Lund to be the winner. When Tiny announces his vote for Rag Doll Milford, they're completely flabbergasted. Video Release * Released on DVD by Rhino Entertainment in June 2007, as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Volume 11 along with the episodes Horrors of Spider Island, Tormented, and The Indestructible Man. The set went out of print sometime by 2010. Shout! Factory re-released the set in June 2019. ** DVD special feature includes the MST3K Video Jukebox Vol 2 and Lugosi Creeps: Making A Sinister Serial featurette (the latter only on the Shout! re-release). * Digitally available through Shoutfactorytv.com, Youtube, Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, and VHX. External links *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056415/ Ring of Terror] at the Internet Movie Database *''Ring of Terror'' at Wikipedia Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 2 Category:Episodes with shorts Category:Movies directed by Jim Mallon Category:Unrated movies